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Foundation Donates $100K to Mass Hockey

Boston, MA – On Thursday, March 12, Boston Bruins Foundation Director of Development Bob Sweeney presented a check for $100,000 to the Massachusetts Hockey Association. The presentation took place on-ice during the first intermission of the Bruins/Senators game at the TD Banknorth Garden. Accepting the check on behalf of the Mass Hockey Association was president of the MHA Steve Palmacci and treasurer Greg Sophis.

Of the $100,000 donation, $36,000 will be donated to Mike Cheever’s “Grow Hockey” Program, a development program whose purpose is to seek, fund, and share within the Massachusetts Hockey Association, innovative methods for growing ice hockey participation throughout the state. The $36,000- which was raised exclusively through the sale of Bruins license plates- will be divided amongst nine hockey programs, who will receive donations of $4,000 apiece. The programs are: Cambridge Youth Hockey, Cambridge Youth Hockey – Girls, the Winchester Youth Hockey Association, Woburn Youth Hockey, the Norwood Nuggets, Hingham Girls Hockey, Stoneham Youth Hockey, the East Coast Jumbos, and the Franklin Flyers.

As an administrator, coach, board member and officer, Mike Cheever’s impact on youth hockey was immense at the local and national levels. He served as a member of USA Hockey's Youth Council for 13 years and has coached hundreds of kids for the past forty years, with plans to do so for many years to come. The Massachusetts Hockey Association has named the “Grow Hockey” program after him, because it is aimed at achieving what he dedicated his life to: giving more kids the opportunity to play the game of hockey.

To participate in the “Grow Hockey” program a youth hockey program must provide an innovative idea to increase ice hockey participation.

The remaining $64,000 of the donation will be used by the Massachusetts Hockey Association in a variety of ways to help grow the sport of hockey in Massachusetts.